The first trading day of 2024 ended on mixed note Tuesday as investors proceeded with caution into the new year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 25 points, or 0.07%, while the S&P 500, which had come within striking distance of a high record close in 2023, slipped 0.57%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 1.6%, with Apple (AAPL) -) leading the retreat after Barclays downgraded the tech giant to underweight from equal weight and cut their price target to $160, down from $161.
The company's iPhone 15 has been "lackluster" and iPhone 16 should be the same, Barclays said. Apple's other hardware categories should remain weak, and the brokerage does not see its services growing more than 10%. Shares ended down 3.6%.
Looking ahead to 2024, Alex McGrath, chief investment officer for NorthEnd Private Wealth, said “the excess savings days of the pandemic are well in our rearview and consumer spending makes up 68% of the GDP number.”
"Inflation may be on the decline from a year over year perspective but that doesn’t not take into account that almost everything you are purchasing today is 20-30% more expensive than it was two years ago," he said.
McGrath added that "the biggest items on our radar continue to be the health of the consumer and avoiding any kind of reflation."
"We’ve enjoyed a downturn in commodity and energy prices in the back half of this year, but that market can be a bit fickle and a bit sensitive to the geopolitical landscape which isn’t in the best shape at the moment," he said.
Updated at 11:59 AM EST
Oil boost
Global oil prices are moving lower into the mid-day session, thanks in part to firm gains for the U.S. dollar and concerns that weaker factory activity data in Europe and China will erode demand into the early months of the year.
Brent-crude futures contracts for March delivery, the global benchmark, were last marked 77 cents lower at $78.88 per barrel while WTI futures for February fell 90 cents to $70.73 per barrel.
The downside moves are helping stocks trim earlier declines, with the S&P 500 now down 21 points, or 0.4% and the Dow edging into positive territory on the day.
Updated at 10:00 AM EST
Softer open
Stocks opened lower, with tech leading the declines, as investors entered the first day of the trading year on the back foot even in the absence of headline drivers.
The S&P 500 was marked 34 points, or 0.8% to the downside in the opening hour of trading while the Dow fell 40 points. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, was down 240 points, or 1.56%, as Treasury yields bumped higher and big-ticket stocks like Apple and Tesla traded in the red.
Benchmark 2-year notes were last seen trading at 4.316%, a 4 basis point bump from Friday levels, while 10-year notes were marked at 3.931%.
Updated at 9:15 AM EST
More Tesla records
Tesla (TSLA) -) shares reversed earlier declines after posting better-than-expected December quarter deliveries that took its 2023 total to just over 1.8 million, a record tally that also fell shy of CEO Elon's Musk's earlier 2 million target.
Related: Tesla Q4 deliveries top forecasts; 2023 total hits record 1.81 million
Updated at 8:17 AM EST
Sliding start
Stock futures are accelerating to the downside in pre-market, with the S&P 500 now looking at a 36 point opening bell decline and the Dow called more than 215 points lower to stary the new trading year.
Apple's 2.4% slump has the Nasdaq looking at a 192 point pullback.
Updated at 7:33 AM EST
Souring on Apple
Apple (AAPL) -) shares, the biggest weight on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, are moving firmly lower following a rare downgrade from Barclays that adds to small but growing bearish consensus on Wall Street.
Related: Apple slides on Barclays downgrade as Wall Street grows cautious on tech giant
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended a remarkable 2024 in mixed fashion, with the S&P 500 slipping modestly into the close last week but ending the year with a solid 24% gain powered in part by outsized performances from the so-called 'Magnificent 7' mega-cap tech stocks and a late-autumn pivot on rates from the Federal Reserve.
Fed policy is likely to provide much of the early market direction this week. Investors are looking to minutes of its December policy meeting on Wednesday to clarify the tone of its recent economic forecasts, which see inflation softening and growth slowing over the coming year.
Officials are also projecting at least three rate cuts, with markets expecting them to begin lowering the federal funds rate in March with a quarter-percentage-point reduction.
Investors are also focused on a series of job-market-data releases this week that could underscore the Fed's newly dovish tone, starting with job-openings figures for the month of November on Wednesday.
ADP's National Employment report, as well as the Labor Department's December nonfarm-payrolls report, will follow on Thursday and Friday respectively, with the most up-to-date weekly jobless-claims figures expected on Thursday.
Benchmark bond yields are creeping modestly higher into the data releases, with 10-year notes rising 2 basis points (0.02 percentage point) to 3.931% and 2-year notes edging to 4.299% in early New York trading.
Softer-than-expected economic-activity data from both Europe and Asia are also cementing the case for lower central bank rates in other major markets this year. The reports are adding to currency pressures and lifting the U.S. dollar index, which was last marked 0.37% higher on the session at 101.706.
Global oil prices were also on the rise following weekend clashes between U.S. naval helicopters and Iran-backed rebels in Yemen near the Red Sea. That dispute could add further risks to vessels heading toward the Suez Canal.
Brent-crude futures contracts for March delivery, the global benchmark, rose $1.83 to $78.88 per barrel in overnight trading while WTI futures for February rose $1.68 to $73.33 per barrel.
On Wall Street, stock futures were softer with the S&P 500 set for a 23 point opening bell dip and the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 145 points lower. The tech-focused Nasdaq is looking at a 140 point opening bell decline.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rose 0.12% to take the regional benchmark to the highest in nearly two years, following on from last year's 12.7% gain. Weak December factory activity data suggested the economy likely ended 2024 in recession, adding to bets on near-term rate cuts from the European Central Bank.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 opened the year with a 0.22% decline as investors and officials assessed both the economic and human cost of the powerful earthquake that struck the western prefecture of Ishikawa on New Year's Day.
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